


possibility

by malignance



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Yule Ball (Harry Potter), cedric takes cho to the ball as a friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21849430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malignance/pseuds/malignance
Summary: Cedric suggests Hermione consider him an alternative.
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Hermione Granger
Comments: 6
Kudos: 199





	possibility

**Author's Note:**

> i have a thing for cedric/hermione apparently. i do not know why

She's a sight to behold when she's crying, he realises.

Cedric hadn't meant to linger, not really, but the scene unfolding in front of him was turning out to be quite a spectacle. 

He's faintly aware of Weasley saying something (something insulting, something _scathing_ , he notes), before he's storming up the stairs, Potter trailing after him.

Then there's Hermione, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes flashing angrily. 

And Cedric was struck with the thought that she was rather beautiful like this, hair coming apart from where it was done up atop her head, lipstick just slightly smudged at the edge, eyes wide and bright and _burning._

He hears a sharp intake of breath, and by the time it takes him to realise he'd made that noise, Hermione had finally took notice of him.

"Sorry you had to see that, Diggory." She barks out, wiping away her tears with jerky movements. Coarse, and unrefined, and nothing like she had been earlier in the night.

He likes this version of her. Callous, and rough, and real.

"Sorry you had to deal with Weasley being a prat, Granger." He replies, shrugging, as though this is casual, as if she hasn't somehow set all of his nerves on fire.

She snorts, as her legs give out underneath her and she deflates against the steps. "I suppose that's something I should be used to by now."

He approaches, a little wary at first, before sinking down next to her. 

She looks up at him, questioning. 

He doesn't meet her gaze.

"If he's like this all the time, I think you really should consider getting some new friends."

She sucks in a breath at his words, recoiling, for a moment angry that he had just spurned one of her best friends so easily. The moment passes quick, though, when she remembers what he'd said to her, why she was here, the fact that she was still crying.

She laughs instead, anger mostly dissipated now. Her laughter is too big, too loud, too forced. It's jarring, and takes him by surprise, yet sends a tingle up his spine all the same. 

He recognises that sensation, that shiver of _something_ , of attraction, of interest. He wonders if he's a little odd, for feeling this way with her right now, her with her angry tears and abrasive laughter and steely gaze. 

"I keep thinking he'll grow up," She admits, scowling, bitter and resentful, "that maybe he'll finally realise he isn't doing himself any favours by being a blind, stubborn, _moron_. But then I think he probably can't help it, probably won't ever grow out of it, and that _I_ might be the bigger moron for expecting more from him in the first place."

Cedric decides Ron is an ungrateful idiot, for not seeing Hermione as she was, for continuously sticking his foot in his mouth when around her when he could've easily won her over by now.

And then there's the part of him that's thankful he hadn't had the sense to treat Hermione the way she should've been treated, and resolves to make sure she knew _he_ could provide her everything she had wanted from Ron.

"You realise he is not the only boy in the world, right? For example, there might be a very good looking, delectable Hufflepuff gentleman, sitting beside you, who happens to think you're a beauty, and would never dream of making you cry. You might think to give him a consideration instead."

Hermione stiffens immediately at his words, at what he's insinuating. Her eyes search him for the longest time, as if trying to judge whether he was joking or not. 

He pulls his confidence from somewhere unknown, and stares back at her, steadfast. She gasps a little, possibly at how forward he is, or just simply because she hadn't expected anyone to be so clearly interested in her the way that he was.

(It's funny that she's still so unsure, he thinks, having two - probably three, including Harry - triwizard champions secured in her back pocket).

"What are you trying to say, Diggory?" She breathes, suddenly soft and vulnerable and smaller than she had been two minutes ago.

He is mesmerised, at how easy it was for her to switch between the two, between the angry, flame dancing in her pupils, wild witch, to the tentative, gentle hands crossed on her lap, demure girl.

He finds he is equally as transfixed by both sides, and smiles.

"That you have options. Possibilities. And that I'm volunteering myself as one of them."

A silence falls over them as she continues to stare, making no move to make another sound. Her eyes are calculating, bottom lip trapped between her teeth, like she is trying to solve a complicated puzzle. Cedric supposes he should find it peculiar, that she is trying to figure him out like a particularly challenging equation, before the silence starts to weigh on him.

He's done this before, with countless other girls, but she is so clearly different, so obviously in a different league to any other girl he's tried to chat up. He is nervous, he realises, and thinks about how he hasn't felt this way with a girl since he was a second year.

It's funny. _He's_ funny. And maybe a little terrified. 

"You're quite charming, _Cedric_. Handsome, too." She says, sudden and out of nowhere, and Cedric chokes on nothing but the air in his lungs. "I suppose you would make quite a becoming alternative."

And then she's smiling at him, something small and hesitant, but a smile nonetheless. Cedric grins in response, all teeth and charm and glee.

He pretends he doesn't notice the way her cheeks turn pink, pretends his stomach doesn't tense when she moves just a little closer to him. 

There are still obstacles to jump over, he knows, but she's considering him now, properly, and that's all he needs.


End file.
